


Villains In a Heroic Spacetime

by MeltyRum



Category: Baccano!, Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-15
Updated: 2020-01-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:20:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22271734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MeltyRum/pseuds/MeltyRum
Summary: Scum and villainy shoot the breeze.
Kudos: 3
Collections: Boku no Hero Academia x Persona





	Villains In a Heroic Spacetime

“Have you seen this picture yet, Dabi? This would-be villain is trying hard.”

“Toga showed me a while ago. At least it’s not ketchup this time.”

“Yeah, looks more like raspberry sauce? Did he make it at home?” Jimenez, from his seat on the couch, felt his shoulders tremble as he tried to withhold his laughter.

Dabi sighed, letting himself collapse into the seat adjacent. “Nothing like these pictures even showed up in the news. Does this kid think we’re stupid?”

“It’s a better effort than the usual jokers, though, so I can see why it seemed good enough for Himiko. He’s doing some real legwork, even if there’s no way those people are dead. Nice touch making sure the St. Hermelin uniform is visible, though.”

Another surly grunt issued from Dabi, who slipped his hands into his pockets. “We should tell him he passed so Toga can meet up with him and get rid of him for us. Seriously, what an irritating attempt.”

“Oh—me!” volunteered Ladd, raising his hand with a menacing grin from behind the couch. A tricky pause told them that he was searching for the right way to say it in Japanese. “Arrogant! Arrogant brats like that are my favorite. Love them. Toga’s busy anyway.” He grinned.

Jimenez shook his head. “Can’t stop you, but that seems like a waste of energy. Going out of our way to punish him is like admitting we have time on our hands.”

“Guess we should have expected that,” Dabi observed, his posture to try and get more comfortable. “Turns out the yakuza do a lot of waiting around, just like real businesses. Even if we’re just messing with them in the end, this deal was a mistake.”

“It’s the same in America,” Ladd chimed in, finding a seat in one of the chairs across them. “They like the _organized_ part of ‘organized crime’ most. I should know: that’s the reason they sent me over here,” he added with a sinister chuckle. Jimenez gave him a quick look; Ladd had an itch that could only be scratched with violence, so he found it a little surprising that it hadn’t gotten them in trouble yet. Maybe this ‘time out’ really had calmed him down?

“Well, I guess the organizational bog has its benefits,” said Jimenez, smiling. “It’s what allows us to take advantage of them now. Even if the yakuza themselves can’t do anything useful for us, they can make things that will; I don’t blame Shigaraki for taking an interest in what they’ve been working on.”

“I guess it might be a good testing ground,” Dabi conceded. “It’ll show us if a handful of villains like us are more powerful than some culturally embedded criminals like the yakuza.”

“Yeah? Ya think?” asked Ladd, smiling. “You think we’re stronger than them?”

Dabi looked Ladd in the eye, clearly trying to gauge whether Ladd’s “love” for arrogance was rearing its head in _this_ part of the conversation, as well. “Hard to say without having done so—we know what he did to Magne… and to Compress’s arm. If the rest of his men have quirks as strong as his, it wouldn’t be an easy fight.” He allowed a brief pause to settle before interrupting it with a shrug. “But I think we could handle them—with the right plan. Not that I’d be opposed to an outright fight.”

“A fight sounds good! Wanna really _scare_ someone. We poke fun at the yakuza, but we do a lot of sitting around, too.”

“That’s different, Ladd,” said Jimenez dismissively. “Anyway, I’m sure you’ll get your fight soon enough. We’re only waiting _because_ of the yakuza: as soon as either they or the heroes make a move, we’ll be right on top of them. Try not to waste too much energy until then, yeah?”

Ladd growled restlessly, but seemed content to put it to rest for now. “You know, back in America, I had all kinds of men under my control. Ones who didn’t care about the ‘Family’ or anything like that. They were _my_ men. They just wanted to see blood—my kind of guys!” He chuckled, relying on Jimenez to translate for any of his occasional dips into English. “We should be a little more aggressive with our recruitment.”

Dabi shook his head. “Not very useful. Common criminals aren’t cut out for life as a ‘villain’,” he said, emphasizing the quote marks around the word. “And the League needs more than just murderers… though I admit it’s preferable—having someone who’s comfortable with that kind of violence.”

“That’s a funny thing to say… for someone who made his name killing people,” Jimenez observed.

Dabi gave him a dangerous smile. “You know what I mean, ‘Jimmy’. You’d need to be blind not to see the way the League’s own members all want to head different directions. How fortunate that Shigaraki and All-For-One make for such convincing leadership. Taking on any old bloodthirsty hooligan obviously won’t work. Anyway: on the subject of recruitment, we should phase out this dumb phone trial. It only worked for Ladd.”

“Maybe.” Jimenez shrugged, dropping his phone back into his pocket. “But anyway, you’re not exactly wrong. Sort of hate to say it, but even murderers need to follow rules. We all—even Ladd, right?—just want a world without heroes. Sort of sounds flimsy on paper, but that kind of thing has gotten stuck into society’s culture, so… ends up uniting us pretty well. Yakuza are different: they can get along with heroes just fine, since it’s the police who are riding their asses.”

Dabi watched him carefully, as though letting the words roll over him a little bit. “Sounds like—if it were up to you—you would rather have us consort with street ruffians than yakuza.”

He shrugged. “Yeah, you could say that. Like I said: I don’t blame Shigaraki trying to get something useful out of them, but I feel like people like us have more in common with simpler sorts of criminals.”

Dabi smirked. “‘Simpler’ criminals, huh? I hope you didn’t come all the way to Japan just to get friendly with shoplifters and burglars.”

Jimenez shook his head. “It’s not that I came here to make friends, or anything. Regardless of the kind of crimes we do, I just want a world where the strong are allowed to be strong. If you think about it, the yakuza are the opposite of that, too: it’s about order, just like hero society is. Strengthgets measured in yen.”

“You saying that’s true of heroes, too?” asked Ladd.

“Well, it’s not exactly wrong,” said Dabi, nodding. “Just look at the new number one hero. He gets paid for being powerful and popular. It’s not worth nothing, but his strength comes from celebrity, not the other way around. In that sense, he’s no different from All Might.”

“Which is enough to make him pretty different from villains like us,” agreed Jimenez, glad that Dabi seemed to understand.

“Guess that’s true,” Ladd admitted, offering a lackadaisical shrug. “Your point is just that heroes and yakuza are so similar it leaves a bad taste in your mouth, right? You think they’ve got the same future ahead of them, right? At least as far as villains like _us_ are concerned.” He chuckled, dropping more Japanese words until he was speaking English entirely. “What I wouldn’t have given to see the looks on peoples’ faces when All Might showed everyone his true colors. After a display like _that_ , I wouldn’t be surprised if the League of Villains itself ended up getting being more popular than some heroes. At least we’re honest, right? We don’t give people false hope and hide ourselves under a bunch of fake muscles, right?”

“You’re talking too much again, Ladd,” chided Jimenez, unable to suppress a small smile. “In English, too. But you could be right: there are probably perfectly normal people out there who think the League of Villains is ‘cool’. Should be a real punch in the gut for plenty of heroes. If they lose as much faith in themselves as the people have, well…” He finished with a shrug, deciding the thought didn’t need finishing.

Ladd sighed. “Yeah. Well, I’m tired of speaking Japanese, so I’ll go see what everyone else is up to—maybe get some exercise,” he added with a familiar sinister grin.

“Just don’t do anything stupid,” Dabi advised.

Ladd just raised a hand as he went, waving it disarmingly as though asking: What trouble could he possibly cause?

Jimenez sighed, too, shaking his head. “I don’t think I envy his having all that energy.”

Dabi nodded. “Going outside always ends up being too annoying, what with our faces being known everywhere. Unless it’s for work, might as well stay in.”

“On the other hand, I could use a change of scenery… but Himiko’s the only one who can go outside without being recognized. Though I don’t know if she has that freedom now that she’s tied up with Overhaul’s guys.” He crossed his arms, giving Dabi a sideways glance.

He wondered if Dabi “missed” Himiko, the same way he sometimes did. Rather, he wondered if Dabi was capable of that sort of emotion at all. For a man who followed the kind of philosophy which Stain preached (even if his ‘preaching’ happened at the end of a blade, rather than on a soapbox), Dabi seemed to have gotten rather comfortable in the League of Villains, plenty of whom had no reverence at all for Stain.

Perhaps it came down to the man in charge of the League. Somehow—for better or worse—Shigaraki seemed to have that effect on people. While at first glance he seemed like an angry brat (not that Jimenez begrudged him that; he wasn’t so different), he always ended up being able to keep control.

But it was difficult to think of Shigaraki as the “leader”, even if that’s what he was, practically speaking. Jimenez had a lot of experience with leadership, inasmuch as he had gotten used to having orders forced on him during his time in the military. Things happened much the same in the League, but it was hard to think of Shigaraki as being alike any of the commanding officers that Jimenez had dealt with in the past. Shigaraki’s rank was not from tenure, but from the strength of his quirk, the stubbornness (desperation?) of his ambitions, and the—frankly speaking—impressive sponsor who backed him.

What puzzled Jimenez most about Dabi was that he never really seemed like a team player, but—at this point—it wouldn’t be that unreasonable to consider him one of the League’s most veteran soldiers. He had strong powers and a bad attitude (not unusual for a villain, admittedly), but also seemed smarter than the rest of the clutch of villains flocking around Shigaraki—smarter even than Jimenez, probably. So what was someone like Dabi gaining in accepting the label of ‘villain’? He got his start as a follower of Stain, so perhaps it was a grudge against heroes in general? Dabi never talked about his past, after all; he was even more enigmatic than Shigaraki or All-For-One himself.

Well—whatever Dabi’s motivations were, Jimenez wasn’t going to go out of his way to _ask_ about them; there was no need getting any friendlier than he needed to.

“You listening, Jimenez?”

He blinked, looking up at Dabi as his voice brought him back to the present. Dabi didn’t allow him the time to answer.

“Right. Well, never mind, then,” said Dabi, shrugging irritably. “I was just saying Twice and Toga were the wrong ones to give to the Shie Hassaikai. No need for me to explain it again.”

“Heh. Well, if you want to talk bad decisions, I think we could start with Akechi. Having people to keep an eye on Chisaki makes sense—it gets us _something_. Not sure we can say the same about the detective.”

Dabi raised an eyebrow, apparently a little surprised. “You don’t think we get anything from Akechi?”

“I can’t think of anything actionable we’ve gained from it, no. He spends his time living life just like he used to—not very villainous of him, if you ask me. Certainly spends more time at the police station than he does with the rest of us.” Jimenez shook his head. “If anything, he’s probably feeding the police everything he learns about us.”

Dabi let out a dry chuckle. “Do you really think Shigaraki—and the rest of us—would still be running free if Akechi’s loyalties went to the police? They would be stupid not to take us at the first opportunity.”

“Unless they were just afraid to do it, regardless of their ability to do so. That, or the information he sells them is more information than having one of us in custody.” Shrugging one shoulder, Jimenez lifted one of his palms up, as if to physically present the argument he was making. “They already have All-For-One, after all; maybe we’re not worth the effort.”

“Huh. You think more than you let on, Jimenez.” He crossed one leg over the other. “Well, I’m not going to say it’s impossible. As long as we aren’t making a move, it’s probably more useful to let Akechi mingle. Or— _if_ he is a cop, deep down—maybe they’re conscious of how wary we would be. Wouldn’t be uncharacteristic for Shigaraki to try trapping Akechi somehow—to pass bad information along which would let us confirm whether or not he’s one of us.”

“But that hasn’t happened,” said Jimenez, smiling thinly. “So you think he’s really a villain at heart?”

“Maybe,” admitted Dabi. “He could easily be a traitor, but…” He looked off to one side, letting his gaze fall upon the television set, whose screen was black and empty. “Perhaps you haven’t been living like this long enough, Jimenez. Sometimes you can just see the potential for evil in people.”

Jimenez blinked. “And you think Goro Akechi is one of those people?”

Dabi grunted the affirmative. “He’s got that high-strung quality about him, as though everything he’s doing is an act that might just fall apart if he puts one step out of place. You saw how coldly he behaved after your little stunt with Toga and Panther: it was as though his disguise had come off for the first time.” He chuckled a little, as though securing satisfaction from the memory of it.

“Hmm.” Jimenez rubbed his chin, deciding Dabi had a point. Naturally, anyone _should_ be annoyed if their significant other was attacked… and if they happened to be in a position where deducing the perpetrators was trivial, once it became clear that no cheating had occurred at all. But it was true that the intensity in Akechi’s eyes was different for a short while afterward. Between his confidence and his ambivalence toward polite social behavior, Jimenez didn’t really mind being in awkward company, but the detective’s frustration in that situation was uncomfortably palpable.

Well, Akechi should have been grateful: having your girlfriend attacked does a good job of making it look like you’re not connected with the League, after all!

“I guess it _does_ seem like he has a slimier side,” he eventually admitted. “But I’m not sure that means he’s got our interests at heart. He’s _literally_ working for the police.”

“Yeah, well, even if I’m right about him, I’m not saying he will or won’t eventually sell us out to the police. I just don’t think he’s as clean as most people believe—and even bad people might decide an orderly society is to their benefit; could be he’s one of them.”

Jimenez smirked, Dabi’s words making his mind dance with ideas. “If you’re not one hundred percent sure about him, we should have Shigaraki test him again. That situation with Ashura could have been a fluke—he technically failed that, anyway.”

Dabi returned with a sinister smile of his own. “Or we could go a step further: make him cut off all ties to society. If he’s not giving us information on the police’s movements, then we’re better off making sure he’s stuck with us. Might have to give up his girlfriend, though.”

“We can always see to that ourselves, if our leader won’t arrange it.”

Dabi raised an eyebrow, his face a mixture of skepticism and amusement. “You attacked Panther once, and now you want to finish her off?”

“Just thinking aloud,” Jimenez started, smiling broadly. “If she’s the last thing holding Akechi to the side of ‘justice’, then taking her out of the picture could make him ours. No more hero shenanigans. No more cops.”

“Heh. Maybe you’re right,” Dabi mused, rising to his feet. “Couldn’t hurt to bring it up. When’s the last time Akechi did anything for us, anyway?”

“That’s what I’m saying!” Jimenez agreed, a sinister smile stretching across his features.


End file.
